James Lawton: City still look short of true champions' style

It may be true that Edin Dzeko, aka the Bosnian Diamond, is as Robert Mancini says. Perhaps he is the final piece in one of the most expensive football jigsaw puzzles ever assembled. Perhaps he will trigger the tactical sensation of Manchester City playing not just more than one forward but as many as five. We might, however, also consider the possibility th...- 13/01/2011, News & Comment

James Lawton: Iniesta deserved Fifa award – he had the world at his feet in 2010

There are not many certainties in football these days except, maybe the one that says whenever Fifa president Sepp Blatter pulls his hand out of his pocket it will contain the wrong envelope. - 12/01/2011, News & Comment

James Lawton: Better to have flawed technology than the cynical appeals of old

You might have thought there could have been nothing more inappropriate and dispiriting at the highest level of sport than the huddle of whiplashed Aussies turning their back on Alastair Cook's exit after his latest epic, record-smashing knock. - 06/01/2011, Cricket

James Lawton: Warne delivers unkindest cut of all to Ponting

If the close of every great sports event brings inevitable regrets, along with the glory, sometimes the pathos level runs especially high. This has surely been true at the Sydney Cricket Ground these last few days. Indeed, it has been easy to remember that the end of a fine, taut golf tournament amid the haunting beauty of Pebble Beach was once described - 05/01/2011, Cricket

James Lawton: For a safe pair of hands, Hodgson is now painfully out of touch with his club

Roy Hodgson was already in a terrible place and it was trouble he compounded this week when he appealed for the support of the Liverpool fans. - 31/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Ancelotti is undeserving victim of the deadly tinkerman

Someone wanted to know if Carlo Ancelotti imagined he still had the confidence of Roman Abramovich. His reply was somewhat self-deprecatory, which for admirers of the Italian and fans of Chelsea was surely as depressing as Arsenal's confirmation that the reigning champions are running pretty near empty.- 29/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: In a composite Ashes team only two Australians would make the cut...

One of the glories of being in Australia is the knowledge that nowhere on earth is less susceptible to the more patronising tones of a certain kind of Englishman.- 24/12/2010, Cricket

James Lawton: Good luck, Jamie, but the best coaches do not need to be fast-tracked

Jamie Carragher has many admirable qualities. In his prime he was praised by no less than World Cup-winning full-back George Cohen as the best defender in the land, someone who had learnt his trade thoroughly and with great passion.- 23/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Arrogant Benitez's surreal fall has been rapid even by Italian standards

Current evidence, admittedly, is less than compelling but there may be a day when Rafa Benitez runs out of other people to blame. Then, if he has time, he might just be able to rebuild a little credibility.- 22/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Sullen City get what they deserve as Everton give lesson in teamwork

Manchester City thrashed in an agony of frustrated ambition and a terrible sense that they are the team whose most dangerous opponents are themselves. Carlos Tevez was back as the symbol of their best hopes and possibly their worst betrayal and his manager Roberto Mancini resigned himself to another night on a perilous divide between the enforceme...- 21/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Cyclical decline? This slump looks terminal

Are we feeling yet a small pang of pity for what is left of Australian cricket? No, thought not, but if the memory of English humiliation four years ago is still too vivid there is another question and the answer may be a bit more complicated.- 17/12/2010, Cricket

The most popular sports news stories of 2010

Deaths, grudges, affairs and mutinies - just another year in sport. With 2010 nearly at an end we've trawled through the stats to bring you the most read sports news stories of the year. Wayne Rooney, England's dire World Cup and the upheaval at Liverpool feature most prominently in a list that, if nothing else, proves the sporting world is n...- 16/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Wenger needs a heavy-hitter for Gunners to break elite's glass ceiling

It was never going to be a perfect football season, neither on the field nor off it, and if we had any doubt about this it was swept away surely by the name of Qatar emblazoned across the shirts of the game's most beautiful team.- 15/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Pardew resists temptation to grave-dance with new Toon

Of course, you are right. The problem of Newcastle United is insoluble and if you forgot that for a moment there was the perfect antidote.- 13/12/2010, News & Comment

James Lawton: Sacking Hughton was crass but it was sadly typical of Newcastle

At the end of another scabrous week in the history of Newcastle United, you have to ask the old question. Why do they do it? The fans, that is.- 10/12/2010, News & Comment